Sermon preached at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton at 9.45am Holy Communion (BCP) on Sunday 5th December 2010. A shorter version of this sermon was also preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist at St Mary’s, Lapworth.
Advent 2 – Year A
Readings: Isaiah 11: 1-10 Matt 3: 1-12
There is a tradition that on the second Sunday of Advent we reflect especially on the prophets, who foresaw the coming of Jesus, many centuries before he was actually born. Now there were many prophets spoke of the coming of a great Messiah. Messiah means anointed one. Now the kings of Israel were not so much crowned as anointed with oil, so Israel certainly expected the Messiah, the anointed to be a great king, like King David or King Solomon from Israel’s glory days, which were about 1000 BC.
As I said, many prophets spoke of the coming of the great Messiah, but it is probably the book of Isaiah that is the richest source of these prophecies, and it is no surprise then that we often read a great deal of Isaiah in Advent, as we look forward expectantly to the coming of the Lord.
Now Isaiah the prophet was writing in the eighth century BC, but the book of Isaiah contains a lot of later material from the sixth century BC presumably included by followers of the Isaiah tradition. The Messiahanic prophecies run through the whole book. The passage that we heard today if probably from the earlier period (although different scholars have different views). It is one of the classic prophecies of about the Messiah and it is very helpful text to reflect on in Advent. Let’s have a look at what the passage tells us to expect in Jesus.
“A shoot shall spring from the stock of Jesse”. Well Jesse was the Father of King David, so we are told to expect a Messiah who is a descendent of King David. This also fits well with God’s promises to David in 2 Samuel 7 and repeated in the Psalms (e.g. Psalm 89).
“The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him” We are told that the messiah will have the Spirit of God, he will somehow be particularly close to God and walk in relationship with God.
We are told the messiah will have the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel and might. The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. In the Christian tradition these “seven” qualities have become known as the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (There are also the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5) I don’t know if you were counting, but I only listed six gifts of the Holy Spirit. Well apparently the Vulgate Latin bible had two expressions for “fear of the Lord”, one of which was usually translated at piety, so that makes seven.
Then the text gives us several qualities of the messiah, which we might associate more with the second coming of Christ than with his first coming. It tells us he will be a judge, and will judge with integrity. He will judge by righteousness, rather than by outward appearances. His judgement will bring justice for the meek and the poor. It will being death and downfall for the wicked.
And then we hear a description of the kingdom where the Messiah reigns. It will be a kingdom of justice and peace. The wolf will lie down with the lamb, the lion will eat straw like an ox. It is like a return to the perfection of the garden of Eden, before sin entered the world and where where everything seems to have been vegetarian. Humanity it seems lives not only in perfect harmony with God, but also in perfect harmony with nature and the environment. “The infant will play over the hole of the adder, and the baby put his hand in the vipers nest, but hurt or harm will be done on the Holy mountain of the Lord”. It seems that even the snake, who caused all that trouble in the garden of Eden, has somehow be brought safely and peacefully into the Messiahanic Kingdom.
So, Advent is about preparing for the coming of the Lord, both the baby who comes to us at Christmas time, and the great king and judge who comes to us at the end of time. And how do we prepare for his coming?
Well last week I made two suggestions. The first was to prepare by improving and developing our life of prayer and worship. I said that through prayer and worship start a relationship with Jesus, that means we are not at first base when he comes. It is as though we are pen-pals or internet friends who meet in real life for the first time. Well it seems to me that this suggestion is very consistent with what Isaiah says. He emphasises that those qualities of the Messiah to do with wisdom and insight, knowledge and fear of the Lord. Prayer and worship is a critically important way into these gifts of the spirit. They are gifts; we can’t just grow them ourselves, but we can ask for them, and seek them through prayer and worship, and this is pleasing to God and it encourages him to share with us wisdom and knowledge, as we grow to know him better and contemplate his ways.
Also last week I suggested that to greet Jesus well, we need to be accustomed to greeting him in all his different faces in the people who we meet in the different circumstances of our life. And just as we meet many different kinds of people, so more likeable, so less so, so there are many aspects to the character of Jesus, some towards which we feel drawn, some of which feel less attractive. But they are all Jesus, we need to learn to love them all. Well again I think this has great consistency with what Isaiah says. Isaiah talks of the Messiahanic Kingdom of justice and peace. We need to prepare ourselves to be good citizens of that kingdom. It is what we are called to, the destiny towards which we must move. And to live in that kingdom we must live by justice and peace. To be just means to treat people right; to give them their proper due, to afford them the dignity that God affords to them, to recognise the image of God in their creation. Of course this is much easier if they are also being just to us, but just as God always takes the initiative in love, is always the first to love, so we need to learn to be the first to love, being just to others even before they are just to us.
So, as we think about the prophets preparing the way for the Messiah, and as we give thanks to God for the Isaiah tradition in particular, so we can continue our preparations for meeting with Jesus. We can continue to develop our life of prayer and worship so as to grow in the knowledge and love of God, to grow in wisdom and understanding and the fear of the Lord. Similarly we can practice being good citizens of the coming kingdom of God by becoming ever more just in our treatment of other people, by properly honouring and respecting God’s creation in them. Amen.
Showing posts with label Justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justice. Show all posts
05 December 2010
05 October 2008
Giving good friut to God
Short sermon preached at St Alphege, Solihull at 8am Eucharist
5th October 2008 (St Francis tide around 4th October)
Trinity 20, Proper 22, Year A.
Readings: Isaiah 5: 1-7 (Philippians 3 :4b-14) Matthew 21: 33-46
When I picture St Francis I often think of him on his journeys through the countryside, passing by the olive groves and vineyards of the beautiful Umbria region of Italy. It is therefore a pleasant coincidence that our readings today include two parables about vineyards.
It is interesting to compare and contrast the two parables. Both parables compare God to the owner of a vineyard. In both cases God has invested in his vineyard, spending time, energy, money and not a little tender loving care. We can picture the vineyards. They are well dug and planted with choice vines. They are protected by walls, hedges, fences and by a watchtower. They are equipped with winepress and wine vats. In both cases God, the vineyard owner, is expecting a return on his investment in the vineyard. In both cases he is expecting a quantity of good fruit, grapes from the vineyard. In both cases he is disappointed!
But then the two parables are a little different in the way in which they represent God’s people. In the Isaiah parable God’s people are the vineyard itself, and especially they are the choice vines in the vineyard. God wants them to bare good fruit, cultivated grapes; justice and righteousness. Instead God finds that only wild grapes grow; he sees bloodshed and hears the cry of the oppressed. He is disappointed! God warns that if he continues to be disappointed then instead of tending and caring for the vineyard, he will break down its walls and let it go to ruin.
In the parable from the gospel, told by Jesus, God’s people are not the vineyard itself, but rather tenants who have rented the vineyard. The vineyard is more like the spiritual blessing they have from God, and the land in which they live. However the warning from God is the same; if the tenants do not deliver to God good fruit then they will suffer terribly and lose the vineyard. It will be given to others, who will deliver good fruit to God.
Traditionally Christians have seen this as a prophecy fulfilled in the opening up of the Church to the gentiles and in the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 AD; God’s promise and blessing passes from the Jews to the Church. This interpretation makes sense to the Church, but it is not the whole story. God continues to work with the Jews. Amazingly they did not die out in the first century AD and they continue to live in some covenant with God, that we in the Church struggle to understand.
However what is very clear is that we in the Church are now tenants of a vineyard. We have the same obligation to give to God good fruits of justice and righteousness, and where we fail to do this we can expect to see our world pulled apart. In these last days we have all marvelled at the collapse of financial institutions and at fragility in the financial sector. We know that the effects of this are fast spreading into our wider economy. It seems to me that it is now more important than ever that we in the Western world concentrate on delivering good fruits of justice and righteousness to God. Without this it is all too easy to envisage us being cast out of the vineyard, and the vineyard being handed over to others who will give God his rightful produce at harvest time. Let’s therefore try to grow in God’s love in our day to day lives, so that we grow some good fruit to offer to God.
5th October 2008 (St Francis tide around 4th October)
Trinity 20, Proper 22, Year A.
Readings: Isaiah 5: 1-7 (Philippians 3 :4b-14) Matthew 21: 33-46
When I picture St Francis I often think of him on his journeys through the countryside, passing by the olive groves and vineyards of the beautiful Umbria region of Italy. It is therefore a pleasant coincidence that our readings today include two parables about vineyards.
It is interesting to compare and contrast the two parables. Both parables compare God to the owner of a vineyard. In both cases God has invested in his vineyard, spending time, energy, money and not a little tender loving care. We can picture the vineyards. They are well dug and planted with choice vines. They are protected by walls, hedges, fences and by a watchtower. They are equipped with winepress and wine vats. In both cases God, the vineyard owner, is expecting a return on his investment in the vineyard. In both cases he is expecting a quantity of good fruit, grapes from the vineyard. In both cases he is disappointed!
But then the two parables are a little different in the way in which they represent God’s people. In the Isaiah parable God’s people are the vineyard itself, and especially they are the choice vines in the vineyard. God wants them to bare good fruit, cultivated grapes; justice and righteousness. Instead God finds that only wild grapes grow; he sees bloodshed and hears the cry of the oppressed. He is disappointed! God warns that if he continues to be disappointed then instead of tending and caring for the vineyard, he will break down its walls and let it go to ruin.
In the parable from the gospel, told by Jesus, God’s people are not the vineyard itself, but rather tenants who have rented the vineyard. The vineyard is more like the spiritual blessing they have from God, and the land in which they live. However the warning from God is the same; if the tenants do not deliver to God good fruit then they will suffer terribly and lose the vineyard. It will be given to others, who will deliver good fruit to God.
Traditionally Christians have seen this as a prophecy fulfilled in the opening up of the Church to the gentiles and in the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 AD; God’s promise and blessing passes from the Jews to the Church. This interpretation makes sense to the Church, but it is not the whole story. God continues to work with the Jews. Amazingly they did not die out in the first century AD and they continue to live in some covenant with God, that we in the Church struggle to understand.
However what is very clear is that we in the Church are now tenants of a vineyard. We have the same obligation to give to God good fruits of justice and righteousness, and where we fail to do this we can expect to see our world pulled apart. In these last days we have all marvelled at the collapse of financial institutions and at fragility in the financial sector. We know that the effects of this are fast spreading into our wider economy. It seems to me that it is now more important than ever that we in the Western world concentrate on delivering good fruits of justice and righteousness to God. Without this it is all too easy to envisage us being cast out of the vineyard, and the vineyard being handed over to others who will give God his rightful produce at harvest time. Let’s therefore try to grow in God’s love in our day to day lives, so that we grow some good fruit to offer to God.
21 September 2008
Justice of God
Thought for parish pew slip
Sunday 21st September 2008 - Trinity 18 – Proper 20 – Year A
Readings: Jonah 3: 10 - 4:11 Philippians 1: 21-30 Matthew 20: 1-16
Our scripture readings today are about people getting what is rightfully due to them. This is the justice of God.
Our Old Testament lesson tells us about Jonah, who had been sent to tell the people of Nineveh of a great disaster that God was planning to inflict on their city. The people of Nineveh repented of their wickedness and changed their ways. God was pleased and decided not to destroy the city. Unfortunately Jonah saw this as a major loss of face and was angry with God. God taught Jonah a lesson to make him understand how much God cares for Nineveh and its people.
In his letter to the Philippians, St Paul ascribes great value to the privilege of suffering for Christ. This has been Paul’s path and it has led him to an extraordinary confidence in God, such that he is equally happy to carry on living or to die and be with Christ.
In our gospel reading some workers who have received a just wage feel they have been treated unfairly compared to other workers who have received a generous wage. The rewards of the kingdom of heaven might be just or generous, but it is not for us to make comparisons. Converting the good things others have is always a problem (e.g. Exodus 20: 17).
Sunday 21st September 2008 - Trinity 18 – Proper 20 – Year A
Readings: Jonah 3: 10 - 4:11 Philippians 1: 21-30 Matthew 20: 1-16
Our scripture readings today are about people getting what is rightfully due to them. This is the justice of God.
Our Old Testament lesson tells us about Jonah, who had been sent to tell the people of Nineveh of a great disaster that God was planning to inflict on their city. The people of Nineveh repented of their wickedness and changed their ways. God was pleased and decided not to destroy the city. Unfortunately Jonah saw this as a major loss of face and was angry with God. God taught Jonah a lesson to make him understand how much God cares for Nineveh and its people.
In his letter to the Philippians, St Paul ascribes great value to the privilege of suffering for Christ. This has been Paul’s path and it has led him to an extraordinary confidence in God, such that he is equally happy to carry on living or to die and be with Christ.
In our gospel reading some workers who have received a just wage feel they have been treated unfairly compared to other workers who have received a generous wage. The rewards of the kingdom of heaven might be just or generous, but it is not for us to make comparisons. Converting the good things others have is always a problem (e.g. Exodus 20: 17).
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